between/among

Question

This is a meeting between/among the three of us. (They are in a meeting room when one of them say it)Which is correct? Thanks!

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

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New2grammar · Answer

If I understand the previous posts correctly, the answer is between.

To really make sure my understanding is correct, here are some other examples with my choices,

There has been a lot of dicussions on human cloning among the faculty members.

We have an agreement between the three of us, which is the first one who becomes a millionaire will have to treat the others to a vacation.

Thanks in advance!

Marius Hancu · Answer

Among or between?

New2grammar · Answer

I based on Paco's example of

Suppose there are three defenders, A, B and C. If I hear 'disagreement(s) between them', I feel like : A and B disagree, B and C disagree, and C and A disagree. If I hear 'disagreement(s) among them', I feel, it can also mean such a case that A and B agree but C disagrees with A and B.

Marius Hancu · Answer

Read Nona's and Mr. P's reply

among

New2grammar · Answer

Sorry but I'm still confused after reading their posts. I don't see any generalization from Mr. P's replies or I'm too dumb to understand.

My original example was about meeting which has nothing to do with differences. Is the key to understand this lies in the idea of physical properties vs abstraction? For example, meeting is not something that can be physically shared between three individuals as compared to pens.

Please give me more hints. Thanks!

Sorry, it was a little obscure.

"Differences" can mean either "disagreements" or e.g. physical differences (hair colour, etc.).

If you say:

1. There are differences between the three men.

"differences" might have either meaning. But if you say:

2. There are differences among the three men.

it could only relate to "disagreements".

MrP

Bokeh · Answer

From:

Among. Between. When more than two things or persons are involved, among is usually called for: "The money was divided among the four players." When, however, more than two are involved but each is considered individually, between is preferred: "an agreement between the six heirs."

New2grammar · Answer

"each is considered individually,between is preferred"

I love your explanation, Bokeh. The reason is that I can use either one as I like or up to my imagination.

Yankee · Answer

Hi New2grammar

Here is what the American Heritage Dictionary has to say on the usage of between and among:

"According to a widely repeated but unjustified tradition, “between is used for two, and among for more than two.” It is true that between is the only choice when exactly two entities are specified: the choice between (not among) good and evil, the rivalry between (not among) Great Britain and France. When more than two entities are involved, however, or when the number of entities is unspecified, the choice of one or the other word depends on the intended sense. Between is used when the entities are considered as distinct individuals; among, when they are considered as a mass or collectivity. Thus in the sentence The bomb landed between the houses, the houses are seen as points that define the boundaries of the area of impact (so that we presume that none of the individual houses was hit). In The bomb landed among the houses, the area of impact is considered to be the general location of the houses, taken together (in which case it is left open whether any houses were hit). By the same token, we may speak of a series of wars between the Greek cities, which suggests that each city was an independent participant in the hostilities, or of a series of wars among the Greek cities, which allows for the possibility that the participants were shifting alliances of cities. For this reason, among is used to indicate inclusion in a group: She is among the best of our young sculptors. There is a spy among you. Use between when the entities are seen as determining the limits or endpoints of a range: They searched the area between the river, the farmhouse, and the woods. The truck driver had obviously been drinking between stops."
http://www.bartleby.com/61/88/B0218800.html

In your original sentence, I would use between.

Kooyeen · Answer

Yeah, that's a good one Amy.
That is a very general guideline for us, but the problem is that sometimes it is still difficult to choose. For example, I didn't know what to choose in N2G sentence.

This is a meeting between/among the three of us. You chose between.

I'm going to divide this money between/among my gang members, ok?
I'm going to divide this money between/among us, ok guys?
Let's get together tonight and have a pizza between/among us!

What would you choose? I'd say both are ok, but I'd only use "between" in the last one.

between/among

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